Monday, December 22, 2014

Climate science is not just another science; instead, its results are read as oracles about our future. This affects climate scientists, too. Disinterested and objective as they have to be when calculating climate, matters of fact inevitably turn into matters of concern.Joe Duggan, a science communicator, asked climate scientists to express their feelings about climate change. He asked them to write letters, which is a great idea; it is a way of communication that bridges the gap between their professional work as scientists and their emotions: "(...) they're not robots. These scientists are mothers,
fathers, grandparents, daughters. They are real people. And they're
concerned."

I am both fascinated by and frustrated by climate change. A lot of my
working life is about studying climate change, and the way the climate
system works is really fascinating to me. Understanding a little bit
more over time is thrilling. Then I look at my children and think about what I know is coming their way and I worry how it will affect them. Gabi Hegerl

Scrolling through these letters makes a good and interesting read. Climate change is as much a novel as it is a calculation. Take your time, and figure out for yourself how it feels.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Yesterday the British Nuffield Council on Bioethics published the report The Culture of Scientific Research in the UK. You can read it here in full.

The Times Higher Education commented as follows:

The council held 15 discussion events at universities nationwide to explore the ethical consequences of the research culture in higher education. It also met with research funders, publishers and editors, and social scientists, and analysed the results of an online survey that attracted 970 responses.

Sustainable use of KLIMAZWIEBEL

The participants of KLIMAZWIEBEL are made of a diverse group of people interested in the climate issue; among them people, who consider the man-made climate change explanation as true, and others, who consider this explanation false. We have scientists and lay people; natural scientists and social scientists. People with different cultural and professional backgrounds. This is a unique resource for a relevant and inspiring discussion. This resource needs sustainable management by everybody. Therefore we ask to pay attention to these rules:

1. We do not want to see insults, ad hominem comments, lengthy tirades, ongoing repetitions, forms of disrespect to opponents. Also lengthy presentation of amateur-theories are not welcomed. When violating these rules, postings will be deleted.2. Please limit your contributions to the issues of the different threads.3. Please give your name or use an alias - comments from "anonymous" should be avoided.4. When you feel yourself provoked, please restrain from ranting; instead try to delay your response for a couple of hours, when your anger has evaporated somewhat.5. If you wan to submit a posting (begin a new thread), send it to either Eduardo Zorita or Hans von Storch - we publish it within short time. But please, only articles related to climate science and climate policy.6. Use whatever language you want. But maybe not a language which is rarely understood in Hamburg.